rewrets

I'm a white female attending a very competitive small private school.

GPA: 85.4/100... (i know it's on the low end, but i've taken mostly the toughest courses at my school... however i'm worried that this could keep me out??)
school does not rank

- started off freshman/sophomore year with low B... increased to B+ junior year and now have very high B or A- 1st quarter of senior year

SAT I's:
Total: 2090
Verbal: 740
Math: 630
Writing: 720 Essay: 11(although i know Colgate doesn't even consider writing... damn)

APUSH: 4
AP BIO: 4

Courses:
8 honors in total
AP Bio
AP US
AP Euro
AP English
AP Art History

EC's

- 5 summers spent as a volunteer camp counselor at a camp for mentally handicapped children....(I think this is big becuase it shows a pretty consistent commitment... also my essay sheds a unique light on autism)

4 yrs of:
- Community Service Club... did a variety of projects throughout the years
- Religious Society
- Tour guide for school
- Writing Club
- submitted lots of poetry to school's literary magazine


Essays: pretty good
Recs: should be okay to good


Athletics:

- tennis for 2 years
- very compeptitive varsity rower of 4 years with great record, will most likely be captain, and can hopefully get support of the coach

Intended Major: Neuroscience/Philosophy


What do you guys think about my chances? Also, do you think it's worth it to apply ED 1 at all? Or do I have enough of a chance regular?

Other schools considering: (what do you think about this list? need more reaches? matches? safeties?)

Colby
Trinity
Con Coll
Richmond
Bates..(wasn't a huge fan)
Bucknell
Lehigh
Maryland

================================================== ===

ALSO.... i'm currently VERY TORN between ed 1 at COLGATE or COLBY?? and i'm freaking out because of the nearing deadline for ED1!! i have a relation who attends Colgate... and I've heard they value that quite a bit. What concerns me at Colby is what seems to be their lack of bio/premed majors. Does anybody know much about the science curriculum/med school acceptance rate at Colgate? I do know that Colgate has built a BEAUTIFUL new science center and has a lot of money they're putting toward science. If anybody has any opinions regarding the two schools I would really appreciate it!!


THANKS SO MUCH!!

rewrets

BUMP...

please, could somebody chance me?? i'm really anxious about this deadline....

Papa Chicken

rewrets-- I'm not generally a responder to chances threads, but I see you are in need of some input....for context, I'm a dad of a current Colgate freshman.

First, I would be mighty wary of going ED anywhere that you haven't visited, especially if you are torn between two colleges you haven't visited. Your gut feeling upon visiting is often more important than virtually any other criterion, plus meeting students can reveal much regarding your eventual preferences.

That said, in general, you already know your weak spot....GPA....but since your high school is competitive private (so long as Colgate has a track record with the school), your GPA is less of an issue....upward trend is good & SATs are in the 2nd quartile (i.e., below median & above 25th percentile) of ACCEPTED students last year, but in the 3rd quartile (slightly above average) of ENROLLING students.....meaning your SATs are probably neutral.

What you really have going IMO is your rowing....have you spoken to the coach? Colgate has a Division 1 team, so you'd need to be good. [You'll also need to register with NCAA.] If you are good & can get a great HS coach endorsement, then you've got a potential admissions hook (i.e., something that will get you in). I would pursue this above all else if you haven't already. Here's Colgate's women's rowing web page:
http://www.gocolgateraiders.com/index.asp?path=wcrew

You may even want to consider waiting for ED2 to let your rowing prospects pan out, that is if you haven't already done so. In the context of grades & SATs for recruited athletes, your stats are in very good shape, and I think it would be mostly a matter of the coach wanting you.

Papa Chicken

btw, on your SATs, some encouragement for what its worth......the imbalance between your Math & CR is in the right direction, IMHO. A study by researchers (of higher ed) at Williams College found that the one single stat that correlates the best with college success in SAT CR....students who score well in SAT CR (& 740 is great) do better in both non-science/math and science/math courses. I understand that this factor is viewed by Williams admissions, and I suspect it is elsewhere as well.

ps...coincidently, my son is interested in philosophy, psych & neuroscience as well. Loving his philosophy & psych classes this fall.

Papa Chicken

I see on your other thread that you have visited Colgate & your bro is there...so good, you have some sense of the school, perhaps enough to make an ED decision. But you mentioned that Colgate (nor Colby) is a sports-oriented school....thats not my sense....I see Colgate as opposite, with plenty of D1 enthusiasm & associated tailgating....so beware if that bothers you.

Papa Chicken

rewrets-- have a look at these threads....

...on SAT's, specifically that recruited athlete SAT scores are in the high 1100's, compared to mid 1300's average for the entire class.
Colgate's NCAA D1 Cert. Self Study-- prospective student athletes should read this

...this one has some discussion on premed issues: is colgate prestigious?

....this one has some links to a few other Colby comparisons (and some other schools you are considering: Reference: links to 'COLGATE vs XXXX College" threads